SEPTEMBER 2014

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IC 09 2014 Front Cover.indd 1 04/09/2014 15:54:13

 THE KNOWLEDGE
Design and application of
Spreader bars are a versatile below the hook
rigging tool so widely used that often the concept is
forgotten or neglected at the design stage.
MARCO VAN DAAL explains
A
number of manufacturing
companies offer commercial
spreader bars for sale and, or,
rent but many heavy lifting companies
fabricate their own. As a spreader bar is not
subjected to bending and shear, its design
can be fairly light compared to a lift beam.
In an ideal design a spreader bar is only
subjected to compression forces and the
slenderness of the tube or beam is the only
consideration in the design stage.
This with the exception of extremely
long spreader bars where the bar sags
under its own weight. When sagging
occurs, part of the compression force
actually causes a bending moment in
the spreader bar, therewith reducing its
original capacity.
FIgure 1
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marco van Daal has been in
the heavy lift and transport
industry since 1993. He started
at Mammoet Transport from the
Netherlands and later with Fagioli
PSC from Italy, both leading
companies in the industry. His 20-year
plus experience extends to five continents
and more than 55 countries. It resulted
in a book The Art of Heavy Transport,
available at:
www.khl.com/books/the-art-of-heavy-
transport/
Van Daal has a real passion for sharing
knowledge and experience the primary
reason for the seminars he holds around
the world.
42 INTERNATIONAL AND SPECIALIZED TRANSPORT SEPTEMBER 2014
IC 09 2014 The Knowledge.indd 42
Spreader bars come in two main
variations. One where the top slings are
terminated at the spreader and one where
the top slings continue down to connect to
the load.
The first variant is the most common
one. See Figure 1, showing a Modulift
triple spreader bar arrangement.
Mostly this type of spreader consists of
a central member, a hollow pipe or tube,
connected a lifting arrangement. This
arrangement can be welded to the pipe or it
can be a separate end assembly that either
bolts on, slips on or slips in or pins on. See
Figure 2 for multiple arrangements.
Those spreaders with removable end
assemblies are modular in nature and the
pipe can be extended by means of inserts
or struts.
Due to the relatively lightweight
construction it is important that the forces
from the upper and lower sling intersect at
the neutral axis to avoid bending forces in
the pipe. Due to the simple construction,
spreaders that are designed and fabricated
in-house often lack this aspect of having
these forces intersect at the neutral axis,
this can have disastrous results.
Unstressed axis
The neutral axis is the axis in a beam or
pipe along which there are no longitudinal
stresses (Figure 3 illustrates this). It depicts
a beam supported at the two extremes.
When a load is applied the beam is
subjected to flexing or bending. The upper
part of the beam experiences a compressive
force where it becomes slightly shorter.
The lower part of the beam is subjected to
tension where it actually stretches a bit).
If the upper part of the beam becomes
a bit shorter and the lower part of the
FIgure 3
there is a certain angle in this bottom sling.
FIgure 2
beam becomes a bit longer, there must
be a part of the beam, between the upper
and lower part, that remains of constant
length. The line at which this occurs is
called the neutral axis. For symmetrical
constructions, for example, a spreader bar,
the neutral axis is found at the geometric
centroid. That suits us well because this
has simplified the design of a correct
spreader bar.
Why is it important that forces intersect
at the neutral axis? Any force that is
applied to the spreader at the neutral axis
results in a purely compression force in
the spreader bar or pipe. Any force that
is applied to the spreader bar that is not
lined up with the neutral axis will result
in a bending force or bending moment.
A spreader bar that is subject to bending
forces and, or, bending moments is much
more difficult to properly design and is
no longer the simple and light weight
construction we were aiming for.
Below are the most common spreader
bar designs with an explanation of the
forces applied to them.
Figure 4a shows the simplest design,
basically a plate, with top and bottom
holes, that is welded in a slotted pipe. No
matter how this spreader is rigged, it is
always subject to a bending moment due to
its incorrect design.
The bending moment is equal to:
M=Fbottom sling x A
As you can see, the bending moment
increases as the angle decreases.FIGURE 7
Figure 4b shows already a large
improvement; the top lug is slightly angled
and if the top sling is rigged at the same
angle, the top and bottom forces intersect
at the neutral axis and no bending occurs.
All you field riggers know, however, that
it is not practical to rely on this. How
often can the bottom sling not be rigged
perfectly vertical, probably for most lifts
It may not be severe but any deviation from
vertical introduces a bending moment.
Another field situation is where the
04/09/2014 14:45:58

spreader bars
FIgure 4A FIgure 4B
spreader bar is used for multiple lifts of
cargo of different sizes and weights. How
often is a judgment call made in the field to
not lengthen or shorten the spreader (take
out or add an insert or strut) but use the
spreader with angled bottom slings to
save time.
As for the top slings, once the angle
of the top lug is known, a fixed set of
slings and shackles can be assigned to this
spreader that are aligned with the offset
lug. When running out of headroom,
however, these top slings could be changed
to shorter slings, therewith introducing a
bending moment in the spreader bar.
Unwanted situations
How can we overcome these unwanted
situations where the spreader bar is subject
to bending moments (for which it was not
designed) but not lose the flexibility of
using the spreader in the field for cargo of
varying size and weight?
Figure 4c is a step in the right direction.
By positioning the hole for the top sling
on the neutral axis, the angle of the top
sling can no longer introduce a bending
moment. In practice this means that any
length sling can be used provided that
common rigging sense is used i.e. maintain
at least a 60 degree angle between the top
sling and the spreader bar.
The bottom sling however can still
introduce a bending moment in the
spreader bar when not perfectly vertical.
Figure 4d shows a spreader that achieves
what we are looking for, the flexibility
of using it for cargo of different weight,
but not overloading the spreader, and size,
but without the risk of introducing
bending moments.
This type of spreader, a Modulift
design in this case, has similarities with
the spreader in Figure 4c in the sense
that it also has the hole for the top sling
positioned on the neutral axis. In addition
it is fitted with a so-called drop-link. The
IC 09 2014 The Knowledge.indd 43
THE KNOWLEDGE
FIgure 4C
FIgure 4D
drop-link is a plate with two holes that fits
in between the end cap flanges, the end cap
is the female end, and the drop-link is the
male end. The top hole of the drop-link is
lined up with the holes of the end cap; the
shackle pin holds it all in place and allows
the drop link to rotate. The bottom hole
of the drop-link connects to the rigging
end ultimately to the bottom sling. The
drop-link freely rotates about the shackle
pin so the bottom sling and the top sling
forces always intersect on the neutral axis.
In other words, there is never a bending
moment in the spreader pipe.
Figure 5 shows a detailed view of small
capacity Modulift end caps with drop-link
and shackle.
You may notice, in Figure 5, that the
top shackle is a larger shackle than the
bottom shackle. This is no coincidence or
mistake in the rigging. Refer back to Figure
1, this is a 370 tonne transformer, the
centre of gravity (CoG) is located central
between the lifting trunnions. Each of the
vertical slings carries 370 tonnes / 4 = 92.5
tonnes, a 100 tonne shackle would suffice
at the bottom (drop link) of the two lower
spreaders. The top slings are angled at 60
degrees from horizontal. Due to this angle [Vision becomes reality
with transport vehicles of the TII Group
the force in each of the top slings is 92.5
tonnes / sin 60 = 106 tonnes. A 100 tonne
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04/09/2014 14:46:19
 THE KNOWLEDGE
shackle is not sufficient; it requires the
next size up.
Down force
The second spreader type is where the
slings are not terminated at the spreader
but are guides around the end caps down
to the load. As the angle of the slings above
the spreader create a down force onto the
spreader, assist slings are rigged to the
spreader to avoid this. See Figure 6.
This type of spreader has its advantages
as well as its disadvantages. Advantage is
that no shackles at the spreader level are
required for the main slings, just some
smaller type shackles for the assist slings.
Also, only two main slings are required
as opposed to four main slings with the
earlier described spreader.
A disadvantage is that this spreader is
always subject to some degree of bending
due to the location of the assist sling lugs.
The closer these lugs are to the extremes
of the spreader, the smaller the bending
moment in the spreader bar but, the higher
the tension in the assist slings. A slight
bending is also introduced by the two main
slings as the approach angles (from the
crane hook to the spreader) and the depart
angles (from the spreader to the load) are
not the same.
The compression force likely applies
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44 INTERNATIONAL AND SPECIALIZED TRANSPORT SEPTEMBER 2014
IC 09 2014 The Knowledge.indd 44
FIgure 6
slightly above the neutral axis. This makes
this type of spreader less suitable for slip-
in, slip-on and pinned inserts. Bolted
inserts would be best as the bolts take the
eccentricity of the compression forces.
Last but not least, analysis of these types
of spreader is more complicated than with
the previously described spreaders.
The down force caused by the 60 degree
angle is now taken by the assist slings.
Figure 6 shows the lift of an HRSG unit
with a weight of 200 tonnes. The two main
slings each take 100 tonnes, this sling's
tension is equal below as well as above
the spreader as it is an continuous sling.
As there was no head room limitation,
the angle between the main sling and the
horizontal measures 75 degrees.
If the top and bottom sling would
terminate at the shackle the top sling
tension would be:
100 tonnes / sin 75 = 103.5 tonnes.
This is not the case as it is a continuous
sling but when we draw a force diagram,
we are 3.5 tonnes short that needs to be
accounted for. This 3.5 tonnes is taken by
the assist slings to resist the down force
onto the spreader caused by the two main
slings. These assist slings, however, would
have to be at the extremes of the spreader
bar to take this 3.5 tonnes of tension. In
Figure 6 you can see that the assist slings
are nowhere near the extremes. The angle
of the assist slings with the horizontal is
85 degrees. The tension in the assist slings
is therefore:
EQUATION 1
sin 75
Fassist * 3.5 3.4 ton
sin85
The difference is small due to the large
top angles; if the top angles were smaller
the difference in tension in the assist slings
would be significant depending on the
termination location.
04/09/2014 14:47:34